THE Bathurst under 21s netball side will open their NSW Championships campaign in Newcastle today not knowing exactly what to expect as they try and improve on their fourth placing in last year’s conquest.

They will come up against eight other sides, playing each of them twice, but are one of only three teams returning from 2015.

The other two are Newcastle and Wyong.

“With the 21s, unlike under 17s or opens, there is only one division – the championship grade – because it is just that sort of age group where you’ve got a lot of people who have just started or finished university or are making the change to a new job,” coach Catherine Welch said.

“There isn’t the demand for a bigger competition with heaps of teams, so there is a high turnover of players and therefore teams from year to year.

“You would always like to improve on what you’ve done in previous seasons and for us, fourth was a decent effort last year, but we’d love to be in the top three at least this time around.”

The Bathurst 21s have had a lengthy preparation under Welch and boast a team stacked with local A grade talent.

They had a good State League campaign and as recently as two weeks ago, defeated the Bathurst opens team in a carnival held on their home courts.

It gives the coach good reason to be confident.

“The majority of this side are players I’ve been looking after since they were 15. They are fit, fast and very skilful and they can play the last few matches on day three of a carnival just like they would at the start of it,” Welch explained.

“I am really blessed to have this sort of player group. We have a very strong shooting circle, really solid centre court and we’re good in defence, there is no real weakness there.

“The best part is that a handful of these girls can play in a couple of positions, there is real versatility there and if one of my shooters is having a bad day, I can put any one of three other girls in there to try and fix the problem.”

With the high turnover of teams, it is hard for Welch to make a prediction as to where the biggest competition will come from, but she has a decent enough knowledge of what the various associations can offer.

“In the 12s, 13s, 14s and 15s you can get a good gauge on how strong each side will be, because they retain the same players through the years and don’t change too much,” she said.

“It is different in the older grades. I would assume being at home and given the size of their association that Newcastle will be strong again, and Penrith also have a very strong competition.

“Wagga Wagga should be pretty tough to beat as well. Dubbo are in our competition, we beat them at State League but their team might have changed a bit since then, so I can’t say whether they will lift on that performance.”

BATHURST UNDER 21s: Sam Thompson, Grace Broadfield, Maddy Ogilvy, Chelsea Gibbs, Courtney Simmons, Elise Gullifer, Claudia McLaren, Carina Floyd, Grace Mooney, Jess Matthews.